AN Aveley man has been jailed for his part in a gang’s operation to smuggle tens of millions pounds worth of heroin, cocaine and cannabis into the UK.
Lewis Taylor, 26, of Perry Way, Aveley, was sentenced to eight years after being found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
He was part of a gang of nine men sentenced to a total of 81 years at Southwark Crown Court on Friday June 19 – spelling the culmination of an operation that started in May 2014.
Operation Debellatio saw officers seize millions of pounds worth of drugs and hundreds of thousands of pounds of cash as they swooped on members of the gang smuggling drugs into the country by concealing them in tyres underneath transport lorries.
Heroin and cocaine was packed into blocks and hidden in the tyres, with cannabis shipments being hidden amongst lorries’ genuine freight.
A van fitted out to remove and replace HGV tyres, with a large wheel balancing machine and petrol driven air compressor in the back of it, was used by the gang to remove the tyres from the wheel rims before the drugs were packed into them.
The gang recruited Polish lorry drivers to take the cargo into the UK, collecting the drugs just before boarding a ferry and returning to Europe with the cash hidden the same way.
On arrival in the UK, the drivers would drop the drugs off before delivering their genuine freight.
Detective Inspector Jerry Troon, of the Met’s Central Task Force, said: "I want this case to send a strong message out to anyone considering attempting to import drugs into the UK. That message is that no matter how ingenious you believe you are being, law enforcement agencies will be one step ahead of you, and when convicted you will face lengthy prison sentences."
Robert Filbrandt, 31, a Polish national of Mckenzie Court, Maidstone, Kent was sentenced to 20 years having been found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to evade prohibition on the importation of drugs and two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
He admitted a charge of controlling criminal property at the start of his trial.
Radoslaw Fijalkowski, 31, a Polish national of Lowther Road, Dover was sentenced to 16 years after being found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of drugs and one charge of controlling criminal property.
Piotr Kmiec, 35, a lorry driver from Poland was sentenced to 11 years after being found guilty of conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of drugs.
Arkadiusz Krawczyk, 33, a lorry driver from Poland was sentenced to 11 years after being found guilty of conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of drugs.
Rafael Koc, 39, from Poland was sentenced to nine years after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to import Class A drugs and one count of conspiracy to import Class B drugs.
Besmir Kaja, 30, an Albanian national of Wharton Road, Bromley was sentenced to six years after pleading guilty to one count of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and one count of possession with intent to supply Class B drugs.
